This page gives some notes and hints on using Netopia R-series routers in the plain & simple configuration. It used to be our main R-series page, but the latter has now been replaced with a more incisive description of the modular hardware architecture and the defective-by-design firmware that runs on it.

As you can read on the just-mentioned main R-series page, there are plenty of issues with this router platform (or rather its firmware) to earn Netopia its place in the hall of shame. However, when it comes to actual use in simple configurations such as needing a router to stand between a routed via-Covad SDSL circuit and Ethernet and when our own 100% open source CPE to do that job wasn't quite ready yet, a Netopia router such as R7200 was much more tolerable than the alternative of Inefficient Networks 5851. Also whenever we need to perform a test against some mainstream CPE device, Netopia tends to be the least painful option.

The routers in this family have a PC-like DE9 serial console port (a male DTE) on which they present a VT100-style menu interface. They autodetect whatever baud rate you talk to them at, much like AT modems. You can also switch into the CLI mode by typing Control-N, but the CLI is rather depressing. (Playing with the CLI makes the by-design defectiveness of Netopia's firmware very obvious; seen in this light the main purpose of the pretty menus seems to be to cover it up.)

Resetting a used or ISP-configured router to the blank state is very easy: short a pair of pads with the power on, and the box grants you password-free access to the configuration menus. You can then set your own password if you want, and setting the correct configuration from scratch is very easy, so no need to fret about erasing the old one along with the password.

They are still consumer-level routers though. While they don't exhibit the same horrendous bugs as Inefficient Networks and disabling DHCP, NAT and firewall/filtering is pretty easy, don't expect a GRE tunnel from a Netopia box. And of course there is the utter disgust you'll have when you dig a little deeper and discover that they are defective by design — see our main R-series page.